A very limited amount of material on British politics is available HERE.
Blair Announces Resignation After Ten Years As British Prime Minister
May 10, 2007
Tony Blair has announced that he will relinquish the British prime ministership on June 27.
Addressing his party members and supporters in his Sedgefield constituency, Blair confirmed his departure after ten years. He became Prime Minister on May 2, 1997.
Listen to Blair’s Resignation Announcement:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Listen to Blair and Opposition Leader Cameron in the House of Commons:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is the text of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Resignation Announcement.
I have come back here, to Sedgefield, to my constituency. Where my political journey began and where it is fitting it should end.
Today I announce my decision to stand down from the leadership of the Labour Party. The Party will now select a new Leader. On 27 June I will tender my resignation from the office of Prime Minister to The Queen.
I have been Prime Minister of this country for just over 10 years. In this job, in the world today, that is long enough, for me but more especially for the country. Some times the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down.
It is difficult to know how to make this speech today. There is a judgment to be made on my premiership. And in the end that is, for you, the people to make.
I can only describe what I think has been done over these last 10 years and perhaps more important why.
I have never quite put it like this before.
I was born almost a decade after the Second World War. I was a young man in the social revolution of the 60s and 70s. I reached political maturity as the Cold War was ending, and the world was going through a political, economic and technological revolution.
I looked at my own country.
A great country.
Wonderful history.
Magnificent traditions.
Proud of its past.
But strangely uncertain of its future. Uncertain about the future. Almost old-fashioned.
All of that was curiously symbolized in its politics.
You stood for individual aspiration and getting on in life or social compassion and helping others.
You were liberal in your values or conservative.
You believed in the power of the State or the efforts of the individual. Spending more money on the public realm was the answer or it was the problem.
None of it made sense to me. It was 20th century ideology in a world approaching a new millennium. Of course people want the best for themselves and their families but in an age where human capital is a nation’s greatest asset, they also know it is just and sensible to extend opportunities, to develop the potential to succeed, for all not an elite at the top.
People are today open-minded about race and sexuality, averse to prejudice and yet deeply and rightly conservative with a small ‘c’ when it comes to good manners, respect for others, treating people courteously.
They acknowledge the need for the state and the responsibility of the individual.
They know spending money on our public services matters and that it is not enough. How they are run and organized matters too.
So 1997 was a moment for a new beginning; for sweeping away all the detritus of the past.
Expectations were so high. Too high. Too high in a way for either of us.
Now in 2007, you can easily point to the challenges, the things that are wrong, the grievances that fester.
But go back to 1997. Think back. No, really, think back. Think about your own living standards then in May 1997 and now.
Visit your local school, any of them round here, or anywhere in modern Britain.
Ask when you last had to wait a year or more on a hospital waiting list, or heard of pensioners freezing to death in the winter unable to heat their homes.
There is only one Government since 1945 that can say all of the following:
More jobs
Fewer unemployed
Better health and education results
Lower crime;
And economic growth in every quarter.
This one.
But I don’t need a statistic. There is something bigger than what can be measured in waiting lists or GSCE results or the latest crime or jobs figures.
Look at our economy. At ease with globalization. London the world’s financial centre. Visit our great cities and compare them with 10 years ago.
No country attracts overseas investment like we do.
Think about the culture of Britain in 2007. I don’t just mean our arts that are thriving. I mean our values. The minimum wage. Paid holidays as a right. Amongst the best maternity pay and leave in Europe. Equality for gay people.
Or look at the debates that reverberate round the world today. The global movement to support Africa in its struggle against poverty. Climate change. The fight against terrorism. Britain is not a follower. It is a leader. It gets the essential characteristic of today’s world: its interdependence.
This is a country today that for all its faults, for all the myriad of unresolved problems and fresh challenges, is comfortable in the 21st Century.
At home in its own skin, able not just to be proud of its past but confident of its future.
I don’t think Northern Ireland would have been changed unless Britain had changed. Or the Olympics won if we were still the Britain of 1997.
As for my own leadership, throughout these 10 years, where the predictable has competed with the utterly unpredicted, right at the outset one thing was clear to me.
Without the Labour Party allowing me to lead it, nothing could ever have been done. But I knew my duty was to put the country first. That much was obvious to me when just under 13 years ago I became Labour’s Leader.
What I had to learn, however, as Prime Minister was what putting the country first really meant.
Decision-making is hard. Every one always says: listen to the people. The trouble is they don’t always agree.
When you are in Opposition, you meet this group and they say why can’t you do this? And you say: it’s really a good question. Thank you. And they go away and say: its great, he really listened.
You meet that other group and they say: why can’t you do that? And you say: it’s a really good question. Thank you. And they go away happy you listened.
In Government you have to give the answer, not an answer, the answer.
And, in time, you realise putting the country first doesn’t mean doing the right thing according to conventional wisdom or the prevailing consensus or the latest snapshot of opinion.
It means doing what you genuinely believe to be right.
Your duty is to act according to your conviction.
All of that can get contorted so that people think you act according to some messianic zeal.
Doubt, hesitation, reflection, consideration and re-consideration these are all the good companions of proper decision-making.
But the ultimate obligation is to decide.
Sometimes the decisions are accepted quite quickly. Bank of England independence was one, which gave us our economic stability.
Sometimes like tuition fees or trying to break up old monolithic public services, they are deeply controversial, hellish hard to do, but you can see you are moving with the grain of change round the word.
Sometimes like with Europe, where I believe Britain should keep its position strong, you know you are fighting opinion but you are content with doing so.
Sometimes as with the completely unexpected, you are alone with your own instinct.
In Sierra Leone and to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, I took the decision to make our country one that intervened, that did not pass by, or keep out of the thick of it.
Then came the utterly unanticipated and dramatic. September 11th 2001 and the death of 3,000 or more on the streets of New York.
I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally.
I did so out of belief.
So Afghanistan and then Iraq.
The latter, bitterly controversial.
Removing Saddam and his sons from power, as with removing the Taliban, was over with relative ease.
But the blowback since, from global terrorism and those elements that support it, has been fierce and unrelenting and costly. For many, it simply isn’t and can’t be worth it.
For me, I think we must see it through. They, the terrorists, who threaten us here and round the world, will never give up if we give up.
It is a test of will and of belief. And we can’t fail it.
So: some things I knew I would be dealing with.
Some I thought I might be.
Some never occurred to me on that morning of 2 May 1997 when I came into Downing Street for the first time.
Great expectations not fulfilled in every part, for sure.
Occasionally people say, as I said earlier, they were too high, you should have lowered them.
But, to be frank, I would not have wanted it any other way. I was, and remain, as a person and as a Prime Minister an optimist. Politics may be the art of the possible; but at least in life, give the impossible a go.
So of course the vision is painted in the colours of the rainbow; and the reality is sketched in the duller tones of black, white and grey.
But I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.
I may have been wrong. That’s your call. But believe one thing if nothing else. I did what I thought was right for our country.
I came into office with high hopes for Britain’s future. I leave it with even higher hopes for Britain’s future.
This is a country that can, today, be excited by the opportunities not constantly fretful of the dangers.
People often say to me: it’s a tough job.
Not really.
A tough life is the life the young severely disabled children have and their parents, who visited me in Parliament the other week.
Tough is the life my Dad had, his whole career cut short at the age of 40 by a stroke.
I have been very lucky and very blessed.
This country is a blessed nation.
The British are special.
The world knows it.
In our innermost thoughts, we know it.
This is the greatest nation on earth.
It has been an honour to serve it. I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short.
Good Luck.
Queen Elizabeth II’s 2006 Christmas Broadcast
Dec 25, 2006
The Queen has delivered her annual Christmas message to the Commonwealth.
- Listen to the Queen’s broadcast.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is the text of the Queen’s Christmas Broadcast.
I have lived long enough to know that things never remain quite the same for very long. One of the things that has not changed all that much for me is the celebration of Christmas. It remains a time when I try to put aside the anxieties of the moment and remember that Christ was born to bring peace and tolerance to a troubled world.
The birth of Jesus naturally turns our thoughts to all new-born children and what the future holds for them. The birth of a baby brings great happiness – but then the business of growing up begins. It is a process that starts within the protection and care of parents and other members of the family – including the older generation. As with any team, there is strength in combination: what grandparent has not wished for the best possible upbringing for their grandchildren or felt an enormous sense of pride at their achievements?
But the pressures of modern life sometimes seem to be weakening the links which have traditionally kept us together as families and communities. As children grow up and develop their own sense of confidence and independence in the ever-changing technological environment, there is always the danger of a real divide opening up between young and old, based on unfamiliarity, ignorance or misunderstanding.
It is worth bearing in mind that all of our faith communities encourage the bridging of that divide. The wisdom and experience of the great religions point to the need to nurture and guide the young, and to encourage respect for the elderly. Christ himself told his disciples to let the children come to him, and Saint Paul reminded parents to be gentle with their children, and children to appreciate their parents. The scriptures and traditions of the other faiths enshrine the same fundamental guidance. It is very easy to concentrate on the differences between the religious faiths and to forget what they have in common – people of different faiths are bound together by the need to help the younger generation to become considerate and active citizens.
And there is another cause for hope that we can do better in the future at bridging the generation gap. As older people remain more active for longer, the opportunities to look for new ways to bring young and old together are multiplying.
As I look back on these past twelve months, marked in particular for me by the very generous response to my eightieth birthday, I especially value the opportunities I have had to meet young people. I am impressed by their energy and vitality, and by their ambition to learn and to travel.
It makes me wonder what contribution older people can make to help them realise their ambitions. I am reminded of a lady of about my age who was asked by an earnest, little grand-daughter the other day “Granny, can you remember the Stone Age?” Whilst that may be going a bit far, the older generation are able to give a sense of context as well as the wisdom of experience which can be invaluable. Such advice and comfort are probably needed more often than younger people admit or older people recognise. I hope that this is something that all of us, young or old, can reflect on at this special time of year.
For Christians, Christmas marks the birth of our Saviour, but it is also a wonderful occasion to bring the generations together in a shared festival of peace, tolerance and goodwill.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas together.
David Cameron’s Speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool
Oct 04, 2005
One of the candidates for the Conservative Party leadership, David Cameron, has addressed the party’s conference in Blackpool.
Cameron called for a “new generation of conservatives” in a well-received speech which concentrated on education and attacked both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
This is the full text of David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative conference in
Blackpool.We meet in the shadow of a third consecutive election defeat.
Defeated by a government that has complicated the tax system,dumbed down the education system, demoralised the health systemand bankrupted the pension system.
It’s made promises that no-one believes,passed powers to a European Union that nobody trustsand set up regional assemblies that nobody wants – and nobody ever voted for.
And still we were defeated.
We were defeated by a government that won fewer votes than any in history.
But let’s not blame the electoral system. Let’s not take comfort in solid, but slow progress. Let’s have the courage to say: they’ve failed, but so have we.
And let’s resolve here, at this conference, when we put defeat behind us, failure behind us, to look ourselves in the eye and say: never, ever again.
Why we are Conservatives
I joined this party because I love my country. I love our character. I love our people, our history, our role in the world. This is the only party that understands and is proud of what we’ve been and who we are.
I joined this party because I believe in freedom. We are the only party believing that if you give people freedom and responsibility, they will grow stronger and society will grow stronger.
I joined this party because I believe in aspiration. This party, the Conservative Party, is the only party that wants everybody to be a somebody, a doer not a done-for.
That’s the spirit we have to recapture. I want people to feel good about being a Conservative again.
Education
Aspiration is enabled by education.
How cruelly it is disabled by Labour today.
When one fifth of children leave primary school unable to write properly.
When one million school children play truant each year.
And when the very essence of aspiration – social mobility – is going backward in this country.
There are far fewer children from state schools going to our best universities. And it’s getting worse.
What have Labour done?
Created an exam system where sixteen per cent means a pass.
Where parents of children in failing schools have no redress and no way out.
And we’re now a country where “failure” is called “deferred success”.
The Government introduced the National Literacy strategy. It’s a good idea – in fact it was Gillian Shephard’s idea.
But why can’t children be taught to read with synthetic phonics, a method that works?
Treating every child as if they’re the same fails the child who’s struggling and the child who’s not.
So why can’t we have streaming and setting to help all children reach their potential?
We’ve got to win the great debate about education in this country.
To give choice to parents. Freedom to schools. And to fight for high standards.
We must cast away the progressive theories and the all must have prizes culture that’s done so much damage to so many children for so long.
And we must win the battle over education for another vital reason.
Parents with disabled children have to fight for everything.
Just imagine what it’s like when the special school that gives their child the love they need, the care they need, the therapy they need, and yes, the education they need…
…when that special school is threatened with closure.
I’ve seen it, and it breaks my heart.
Labour’s idea of compassion is to put every child in the same class in the same school – and call it equality and inclusion.
But I say that’s not compassion … it’s heartless, it’s gutless, and it’s got to stop.
That’s why a Conservative government will save special schools.
Brown
Everyone knows that education, like our other public services, desperately needs radical reform.
And who’s the man standing in the way? Gordon Brown, the great roadblock.
Everyone knows that our economy needs lower and simpler taxes.
Who’s standing in the way? The great tax riser and complicator, Gordon Brown.
Everyone knows that business need deregulation to compete with China and India.
Who’s standing in the way? The great regulator and controller, Gordon Brown.
How are we going to stop him?
Tony Blair can’t. God knows, he’s tried hard enough.
There’s only one group of people who can stop him – and that is we in this room.
Change
There’s one thing Gordon Brown fears more than anything else…
…a Conservative Party that has the courage to change.
So let’s give him the fright of his life.
There are some people who say “all we’ve got to do is wait for the economy to hit the rocks, for Gordon Brown to be more left wing than Blair. All we need is one more heave.”
I think that’s a pathetic way for a great party to behave.
One more heave means one more defeat.
I don’t want to hang around and wait till something turns up – do you?
Some say “hit Labour harder, and the electorate will come to their senses.”
I say that’s rubbish. People know that Labour have failed. They want to know how we will succeed.
I don’t want to let them down – do you?
Some say that we should move to the right.
I say that will turn us into a fringe party, never able to challenge for government again.
I don’t want to let that happen to this party – do you?
We don’t just need new policies or presentation or organisation or even having a young, passionate, energetic leader…though come to think of it that might not be such a bad idea!
We’ve got to recognise that we’re in third place amongst under 35s.
That we’ve lost support amongst women.
That public servants no longer think we’re on their side.
That the people with aspirations who swept Margaret Thatcher to power have drifted away from our party.
We have to change and modernise our culture and attitudes and identity.
When I say change, I’m not talking about some slick re-branding exercise.
What I’m talking about is fundamental change, so that when we fight the next election street by street, house by house, flat by flat…
…we have a message that is relevant to people’s lives today, that shows we’re comfortable with modern Britain, and that we believe our best days lie ahead.
I want to be able to say to the mum who’s thinking “how will I pay for Christmas” and worrying how to get the kids to school…
…yes, we want to leave more money in your pocket, but we know the value of good public transport too.
So we’ll share – that’s right we’ll share – the fruits of economic growth between tax reduction and public services.
To the people living in our inner cities of all races and religions, grappling with the problems caused by family breakdown, poor housing, and low aspirations…
We know we have a shared responsibility; that we’re all in this together; that there is such a thing as society – it’s just not the same thing as the state.
So just as we said to business leaders in the 1980s, go to our inner cities, create jobs and wealth and opportunity in Enterprise Zones…
…so we should now say to the voluntary sector leaders whose solutions are working where the state is failing, we’ll set up Social Action Zones where we set you free to turn neighbourhoods around.
To the family trying to keep their heads above water to provide for their kids and to give them the time they need, we’ll say…
…yes, we believe in the family because the most important thing in the world is that children are brought up in a stable, loving home.
So we’ll help you with childcare. We’ll make sure the benefit system helps all families get together and stay together. And we’ll support marriage because it’s a great institution – so we’ll back it through the tax system.
To the new parent who worries about the air her kids will breathe, the state of the parks where they’ll play and the food that they put in their mouths, we’ll say…
…yes, the Conservative Party understands that the quality of life matters, as well as the quantity of money.
To the young student whose horizons are broader than these shores, broader than Europe, we’ll say…
…yes, the Conservative Party wants Britain to be a proud, self confident, outward looking country that engages ethically and enthusiastically with the wider world.
And when we talk about foreign affairs, we don’t just stand up for Gibraltar and Zimbabwe but for the people of Darfur and sub-Saharan Africa who are living on less than a dollar a day and getting poorer while we’re getting richer.
That’s what I mean by change.
We’ve got to change our culture so we look, feel, think and behave like a completely new organisation.
Young people and politics
By changing our culture we can change politics too.
When I meet young people they tell me how sick they are of the whole political system.
The shouting, finger-pointing, backbiting and point-scoring in the House of Commons.
That’s all got to go.
I want young people to see politics not as a waste of time but as a way to change the world.
I want every young person in this country with ideas and talent and energy says yes!…
…I want to make a difference, I’ve got something to offer, I will get involved.
New generation
So let’s build together a new generation of Conservatives.
Let’s switch a new generation on to Conservative ideas.
Let’s dream a new generation of Conservative dreams.
There is a new generation of social entrepreneurs tackling this country’s most profound social problems.
There is a new generation of business men and women who are taking on the world, creating the wealth and opportunity for our future.
We can lead that new generation.
We can be that new generation.
Changing our Party to change our country. It will be an incredible journey.
I want you to come with me.
We’ll be tested. And challenged.
But we’ll never give up. We’ll never turn back.
So let the message go out from this conference…
…a Modern Compassionate Conservatism is right for our times, right for our party – and right for our country.
If we go for it…
If we seize it…
If we fight for it with every ounce of passion, vigour and energy from now until the next election…
…nothing and no one can stop us.”
Labour And Conservative Parties Release Election Platforms
Apr 14, 2005
The British Labour and Conservative Parties have each released the traditional manifesto for the May 5 election.
Hereditary Peers Abolished in Britain
Oct 27, 1999
An historic constitutional reform which abolishes hereditary peers in Britain’s House of Lords was passed today.
The Lords voted 221-81 to end 800 years of hereditary titles.
With devolution in Wales and Scotland now established, Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has presided over the most significant constitutional and parliamentary reform since the Great Reform Act of 1832.
The House of Lords has 1295 members, 759 of whom are hereditary. In a compromise with the government, 92 peers will remain until the government decides how to further reform the chamber.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Earl of Burford was “thrown out of the chamber for leaping onto a ceremonial cushion in a one-peer protest.”
Purple, even florid, prose came from the Conservative leader, Lord Strathclyde: “A long chapter is being closed tonight. The tale is now told, the past is done. The glass is shattered and it cannot be remade. The prime minister has taken a knife and scored a giant gash across the face of history.”
Unemployed Englishman Turns 50 – Mum Throws Party
Nov 14, 1998
The Prince of Wales turned 50 on November 14, 1998 and the Queen hosted a birthday reception at Buckingham Palace.
Earlier in the week, the Prince Of Wales web-site was officially opened.
The Prince’s full title is Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland.
Between January and September 1966, Prince Charles was an exchange student at Timbertop, the bush retreat of the Geelong Grammar School in Victoria.
Later, following his marriage to Lady Diana Frances Spencer on July 29, 1981, it was rumoured that the Prince might be appointed Governor-General of Australia, but this did not eventuate.
Republican sentiment in Australia makes any future royal appointment impossible to conceive.
Earl Spencer’s Eulogy of Diana, Princess of Wales
Sep 06, 1997
Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris in the early hours of Sunday, August 31, 1997.
- Listen to Prime Minister Tony Blair speak at the funeral of the Princess of Wales.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
- Listen to Elton John sing England’s Rose at Diana’s funeral.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is the eulogy delivered by Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, at her funeral on Saturday, 6th September, 1997.
I stand before you today, the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning, before a world in shock.
We are all united, not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana, but rather in our need to do so, because such was her extraordinary appeal that the tens of millions of people taking part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met her feel that they too lost someone close to them in the early hours of Sunday morning. [Read more...]
